smith



(No Model.)

D.. L. SMITH.

SUSPENDER BUGKLE.'

Pateutd Dec. 13

N.' PETEns; ?Mo mmm Wuhinllon. i1 c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DWIGHT L. SMITH, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EARLA. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE. I

SUSPENDER-BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,853, dated December13, 1887.

Application filed October 24, 1887. Serial No. 253,176. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DWIGHT L. SMITH, of Waterbury, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inSuspender-Buckles; and I do hereby declare thefollowing, when taken inconnection with accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in

Figure 1, a front View of' the buckle complete; Fig. 2, a rear Viewofthe same; Fig. 3, a side View of the same; Fig. 4, a vertical centralsection; Fig. 5, a front View of the frame detached; Fig. 6, the slidedetached; Fig. 7, the spring-plate detached.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of buckles forsuspendersin which a hook is formed upon or attached' to the lower sideof the buckle, by which to attach the braces; and it consists in theconstruction, as hereinaft'er described, and particularly recited in theclaim.

The frame ofthe buckle is made from a single piece of wire bent, as seenin Fig. 5, toform the hook a, the lower side, b, the two ends c c, andthe top d, the ends of the wire meeting on the upper side, (Z, and theyare secured in any suitable manner, preferably by a tube embracing theupper side, as indicatedin Fig. 1, this being a common constructionofframe. The slide or clamp is made from sheet metal, as seen in Fig. 6,it being of'a length corresponding to the length of the frame, andconsists of two bars, e f, with a slot, g, between. The bar e is thelower bar, and its upper edge is preferably serrated and is turnedtoward the front, as seen in Fig. 4. This 'slideis con structed at eachend with a lateral projection, h. The slide is placed upon the rear sideof the frame and upon the two ends c c. Then the projections h h areclosed around the respective ends of the frame, so as to form slides forthe movement -of the bar, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 1, and sothat the bar is free to move up and down, or toward and from the upperside of the frame. The upper edge of the bar e turns forward through theframe and forms a jaw for engaging the strap, and it may be serrated, asseen in Fig. 6, or with a straight edge, as indicated in broken lines,

Fig. 6. The spring i for the hook of the buckle is made as a part of aplate, Z, which is secured to the lower side of the frame. This 5 5'plate is made of ornamental shape, and with a lateral projection, m, atits two ends, and withsimilar downward projections, n, on its loweredge, the spring i extending centrally downward from the plate Z, asseen in Fig. 7. The tongue-plateis applied to the fra me by laying theplate upon the front side of the frame, then closing the projections m maround the respective ends of the frame and the downward projectionsnnaround the lower side, b, of the frame, which firmly unites the plateto* the frame and leaves the spring inside the nose of the hook, as seenin Figs. 1 and 4. This completes the buckle.

The spring-bar e may be made highly orna- '70 mental, and not only serveas a support for the spring, but add materially to the tastefulappearance of the buckle.

In applying the suspender or strap it is introduced from the rearthrough the slot g in the slide downward, over the jaW-edge of the bare, thence turned through the frame beneath the bar e and above the plateZ, as seen in Fig. 4, and the strain upon the strap comes upon the slidethrough the bar f, tending to 8C raise the slide and draw the jaw-edgeof the bar 6 toward the upper side of the frame, and so that the strapis grasped between the upper side of the frame and the jawedge of thebar e. V

I claim- The herein-described buckle, consisting of a frame formed froma single piece of wire, combined with a slide on the back side of the'frame, the two ends of the slide closed around the respective ends ofthe frame and so as to move freelythereon, the said slide constructedwith a longitudinal slot forming two bars, e f, the lower bar, e, havingits upper edge turned forward through the frame, and a plate, Z, madefrom sheet metal, secured to the lower side of the frame, and with anextension, 'Z, therefrom to form the spring for the hook, allsubstantially as described.

DWIGHT L. SMITH.

witnesses:

JAMES STovELL, H. L. SLAUsoN.

